Last Stand
by minnov
Summary: One year after the last stand, the mentors and friends remember that fateful night.
1. Prologue

So here it is! Well, here's the prologue at least. I just need to get this story off my chest.

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><p><strong>July 5, 2013 <strong>

**5:00 A.M., Gotham City**

It was hard to believe it had been one year.

One year since the Justice League had been taken hostage.

One year since their teens' last stand.

One year since the Team had been killed.

The circle of statues hadn't been there a year ago. Ten people stood around them.

Two stood in front of a stone incarnation of a girl holding a bow and arrow, both holding the same weapons.

One stood in front of a young-looking boy with a cape, also wearing one but in a costume much darker in appearance.

One stood in front of another boy, his bright red costume nearly matching the one on the stone figure.

A green-skinned man stood in front of likeness of a girl in a cape and skirt.

A man in blue with a cape stood in front of a rather angsty-looking boy, the same symbol on the boy's shirt as the man's.

A blonde man in an orange shirt stood in front of the statue of boy with dark skin and short hair.

Three others, two magicians and one blonde woman, stood in front of a plaque in the space in the middle of the circle.

_This park and the statues are dedicated in memory of the fallen heroes Artemis, Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Superboy, and Miss Martian. They gave their lives to save the world when it in peril and otherwise defenseless on July 5, 2012. Dedicated on January 1, 2013 by the Wayne Foundation._

Crowds did not fill Hero's Park in the early morning, which made it all the better for the heroes, the ones still alive as they recalled those fateful days leading up to the fifth, almost one year exactly after the original Team had been formed.


	2. Part 1

__Disclaimer-Still don't own Young Justice.

Anyway, yeah, they're going to die. This story was pretty much inspired by another, called What We Carry but I can't remember who it's by.

Gotta go, but enjoy!

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><p><em>Watchtower to Batcave, Watchtower to Batcave. All exits have been sealed, not under our control. Teleporter isn't working. Everyone is trapped inside.<em>

July 3, 2012, the day they'd decided to hold the massive meeting of all the Justice League members.

Robin happened to be in the Batcave at the time and heard the transmission.

_Batcave to Watchtower. What happened?_

_Watchtower to Batcave. _Batman's voice echoed around the cave again. _The Injustice League somehow shut off almost all power in the Watchtower. I'm sending this message on reserve- _Static filled the cave when Batman's voice cut out.

_Batcave to Watchtower. Batman, come in. Batman! _Robin tried desperately to regain contact. When ten minutes and only static passed, he sighed and stood back from the computer. Every hero in the Justice League was trapped in that tower.

That meant it was up to them.

Up to him and the other five teenagers he thought of as a second family.

It was up to them to save the world.

He sighed as he walked towards the Zeta-tubes.

_Recognized Robin B01_

He wasn't at all surprised to see his teammates already in the Cave when he arrived. However, they had been surprised to see his grim expression.

"Robin? What's-"

There wasn't time for the question to be finished or the answer given. Suddenly, the screens flickered to life in the room and the cold cackling of the Joker filled the entire Cave, everyone covering their ears immediately.

At first, only static showed on the screens before they saw the, unfortunately, familiar faces of the Injustice League, as well as other notorious villains. Joker stood in front, grinning maniacally.

"What do you want, Joker?" Robin asked, anger flooding his voice. The five other members of the Team were looking between Robin and the screens, confusion evident on their faces.

The man on screen only smiled wider. "Like you don't know? But I see you haven't told the other kiddies, yet." He paused dramatically. "The entire Justice League is trapped on the Watchtower with no way to get out." Robin's nod only confirmed this news and the other teenagers turned extremely pale and their faces became grim. The villain screeched again, the teenagers covering their ears to drown out the horrible laughter.

"What do you want with us?" Robin asked again. "Why send a message to us. They're all up there, why not them?"

"Because they're the ones going to die." The man grinned again. "Everyone's got a weakness and we know them all. We hacked into the systems and downloaded the information. Think of it," he said, laughing again before continuing. "All of the knowledge necessary to bring the Justice League down, in our hands.

"There are bombs all over that satellite, set to go off at midnight." Everyone immediately looked at the time: 6:24 P.M. "None of them know it, of course." The madman grinned again. "You have no way to communicate with them and we have the controls." He cackled again.

"You still haven't told us what you want with _us_." Robin said again, glaring as anger seeped into the boy's voice.

"Well, we're giving you the chance to save them, silly!" Joker said. M'gann was the only member of the Team to display any change in emotion. "But, you've got the do what we say. Got it, kiddies? And don't try anything funny, cuz all I've got to do is press this button," he held up a trigger. "And Batsy and the rest of the League go boom." He got quieter as he spoke the last part, the sadistic grin on his face never leaving. "You've got a choice to make. There's a file attached to this video. It's got an address. Come to it; bring whatever the hell you want. We're not telling what's there. It would ruin all the fun!" His grin widened. "Or, you could stay and watch as we blow the League out of the sky, literally!" He laughed again.

"And what proof do we have you won't just do it anyway?" Artemis asked, speaking up.

Joker laughed again. "You don't!" He cackled as the video cut out and the file automatically opened.

"We're going." When Robin spoke, it was a statement and left no room for discussion. Since he'd become leader a few months ago, it was clear that the Boy Wonder had grown up, both figuratively and literally. He had grown almost half a foot in the past year. Most of the teens were now relatively the same height.

Everyone nodded as they scanned the file. Robin and Artemis's eyes narrowed as they realized where it was. "That's in the worst part of Gotham. All that's there is an abandoned casino and hotel." Robin said, frowning.

"At least we know where they are, though," said M'gann, trying to be cheerful. However, the rest of the Team didn't share her slight enthusiasm nor her small smile.

"Maybe. Or there's a bomb set to blow us all up the moment we step foot in the door." Robin said, already starting to add a few things to his utility belt.

"I say there's a good chance there's just a bunch of guys for us to fight there, a delay. Then we'll get another 'clue' and be off on another chase. But we don't really have a choice." Artemis said, sighing. Robin only nodded solemnly, followed by the others.

They were going to save the Justice League, but at what cost?


	3. Part 2

I still don't own Young Justice or any of DC's awesome characters.

Sorry about the wait, guys, but I have not felt compelled to write this almost at all. I dunno, maybe just me being whiny.

Nonetheless, I'm going to finish it.

And to those of you waiting on the sequel of my other story, well, you're just gonna have to wait.

Anyway, enjoy!

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><p>In an hour, they were standing in front of the abandoned casino, Johnny Luck's. It was dark and dreary, the once neon sign hanging on by a single cable. The building loomed over them, challenging them to enter. It was seven o'clock now. That left five hours for them to rescue the League and if they knew the villains, it would take every second of those five hours.<p>

"Superboy, what can you see?" Robin asked, looking towards the clone.

"No one. There's not a single person inside, but I think there's a TV screen," he responded blankly.

Robin walked to the door and slowly pushed it open. Conner had been right. There was a giant TV screen in the middle of the lobby. Static flickered on it, beckoning them closer. Initially hesitant, the teenagers glanced around warily, looking for any of the Joker's signature tricks that were, more often than not, rather lethal.

Yet, nothing jumped out at them with knifes and bullets didn't rip through the walls as they approached the screen. As soon as they were all standing in front of it, the Joker appeared again, still grinning sadistically.

"So glad the kiddies could make it!" He laughed, the horrible screeching filling the room and the ears of the teens. "We've got a game to play and you're the stars!" Frowns deepened on their faces. "Let's play a game." The smirk on his face was not a pleasant sight.

"What do you want?" Artemis asked, glaring at the man.

In response, he cackled again. "Oh, dear! Didn't you hear me, silly girl? We're going to play a game. It's called hide and seek." That did not sound good to anyone on the Team. "There are one hundred bombs on the Watchtower. Likewise, there are one hundred bombs around Gotham. The ones in the Watchtower go off at midnight, same for those in Gotham. It's your job to track them. They're directly connected. So, diffuse a bomb here, one up there gets diffused. Easy, right? Here's the catch. There are a few extra, _special _bombs in Gotham, twenty to be exact. Those go off at midnight, too. And don't bring any friends. I'll know." He tapped a finger against his green-haired head. "Have fun!" And suddenly, he was gone again.

"One hundred twenty bombs," Kaldur said, eyes wide.

"All set to go off at the same time," Wally continued, a similar expression on his face.

"We need to get going, then," Robin said, already heading out the door. "Split up. Radio me if you need help or need to know how to diffuse a bomb. Conner, keep us updated if you see any bombs."

With a nod, everyone was off.

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><p>"I've got one," Robin said, already opening the device. There were purple, red, white, and black wires. <em>Great. <em>He thought sarcastically. Red, black, white, then purple. He sighed as he finished clipping the wires, glad that no explosion followed.

"Guys, cut the wires in this order," he said over the comm link. "Red, black, white, then purple. Got it?" After he received the answers, he was off again, looking for more bombs.

A minute later, Wally had found a bomb. He'd defused it in a matter of seconds and was off again. This continued for some time before Robin radioed them all again.

"How many have you guys diffused?"

"I've done 15," Wally said.

"13 over here," Artemis responded.

"Seven for me," M'gann said.

"14," Conner said.

"11," Kaldur said.

"Okay, 17 down here. That means we still have fifty-three left." He glanced at the clock tower he was passing. "And less than two hours to diffuse them all. Go!"

And just like that, they were off again, more frantic this time. A few bombs each later, they heard static over their comm link, soon followed by the Joker's cackle.

"Well done, kiddos! All of the bombs aboard the Watchtower are diffused," They breathed a small sigh of relief. "Except one." Every face turned to a scowl. "Now this a very special bomb! It's right in the middle of the satellite and the biggest one of all. If it goes off, say goodbye to the Justice League!" He cackled again. "Of course, you still have the other twenty bombs, specially made for you kids, too! Tic toc!" Static returned for a second before their comm link went back to normal.

"Great," they heard Artemis say before they headed off again.


	4. Part 3

...Am I terrible at updates on this or what?

Sigh, I'll have this finished so I can work on the sequel after the next chapter because, quite frankly, this story does not get much love.

Anyway, I still don't own Young Justice.

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><p>In the Watchtower, Batman was pacing. The founders and mentors to the Team were gathered in the control room.<p>

"The Injustice League shut down the main power core four hours ago. We've only gathered enough reserve power for five minutes of radio time between the Watchtower and someone's comm."

"It's got to be the kids then," Green Arrow said, looking up.

Batman nodded. "Everyone ready?", he asked, receiving several nods in response. With the flip of a switch, emergency power came back online, though a warning flashed, reminding them of their limited time.

_Watchtower to Team. Watchtower to Team. Come in._

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><p>When Batman's voice echoed in the comm link between the teenagers on Earth, they froze.<p>

_Robin to Watchtower. What is your status? Over._

The heroes in space breathed a sigh of relief, glad to actually reach someone, though the Team didn't know it.

_Watchtower to Robin. We've gathered only enough power for five minutes of radio time. What is the status? Over._

_Robin to Watchtower. The Injustice League has planted bombs all over Gotham and the Watchtower. They're connected and have been almost all diffused. Over._

And suddenly, the Team remembered their mission. They were moving through the streets again as they heard Batman's voice again.

_Watchtower to Robin. Power is running out faster than anticipated. One minute left of time. We will radio back when we have power. As soon as we can operate the Watchtower for at least a few minutes, we'll start evacuating, just in case. Watchtower over and out._

That would be at least a few hours. The Team was silent as they continued to diffuse the bombs.

Until Joker's voice pierced their comm link and their ears.

"Gotta admit! I'm impressed. That was the last bomb on the Watchtower." Everyone sighed with relief and looked at the nearest clock. It was past eleven, almost midnight. "Don't forget about those special bombs." The clown laughed again before cutting off the link.

"Only twenty more, guys," Robin said, trying to be at least a little optimistic. Even though no one could see each other, they nodded and headed back into the night.

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><p>Back in the Watchtower, Batman was rubbing his temples. He was tired of the waiting, of the constant unknown of what was happening below them. The Team… Yes, he did actually trust the Team to handle themselves. He was more worried that something would appear.<p>

Something no one expected.

He had this horrible gut feeling that something would happen.

He just hoped he was wrong.

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><p>"Six left," Robin's voice echoed as everyone prepared the diffuse the last bombs.<p>

But at that moment, midnight struck.

Six worlds blew up in bright purple, the cackling of a madman following.


End file.
